EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell did not rule out that on February 22, during a meeting of EU foreign ministers, restrictions against Russia could be extended.
“We will discuss these issues with EU foreign ministers. As usual, states must decide on further actions, and yes, they may include sanctions,” Borrell wrote on his blog following his visit to Moscow.
He recalled that at the end of last year, a new global sanctions regime for violation of human rights entered into force in the European Union. It is valid only in the EU and applies against individuals and legal entities. The list of restrictions includes an asset freeze and a ban on entry to the European Union.
Borrell proposed to name the “European” act of Magnitsky “after Alexei Navalny, although he stressed that the document would not be directed against any particular country.
On Friday, during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavov, the head of European diplomacy said that so far no new proposals on anti-Russian sanctions have been received from the EU member states.
Google News!On February 2, the Simonovsky Court of Moscow replaced Navalny’s suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case with a real one – 3.5 years in a general regime colony. Shortly thereafter, leading Western countries, including the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, called on the Russian authorities to release the founder of FBK *. The Foreign Ministry called these statements a coordinated information campaign, the goal of which is “a global attempt to contain our country, interference in its internal affairs.”
